LOS ANGELES — In conversation, John Stamos comes across as entirely at ease in his handsome, age-defying skin.
Who wouldn’t be? But he admits that he longed to slip into something less comfortable on TV, a character distant from the good-natured charmers he’s known for. He thought he’d found it.
“I was auditioning for an Amazon pilot called ‘Cocked,’ as this drugged-out guy who inherits a gun company. It was very dark, and I just kept auditioning, and I really wanted it, and I didn’t get it,” he recalled.
His agent had a rebound suggestion. If his goal was to be on TV and entertain viewers, Stamos was advised to do what he does best.
He found the role and the vehicle in Fox’s new comedy “Grandfathered” (8 p.m. Tuesday), cut with couture precision to fit him. Stamos plays a restaurateur and — kinda — content single guy who finds his self-absorbed life upended by the 20-something son he didn’t know he had. Oh, and there’s also a grandbaby.
Stamos, 52, has effectively played against type before, most notably in Broadway revivals “Cabaret” and Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man.” But he says he’s happily accepted his “Grandfathered” fate as swinging Jimmy Martino, suddenly grounded by his past.
“I’m satisfied with being a guy who’s likable and funny and self-deprecating,” Stamos said. “I don’t need to stretch so far, especially in television where you could play a character, hopefully, for years. You want to play something that you enjoy doing for 10, 12, 14 hours a day.”
And if the playboy-out-of-water evokes “Full House,” the 1980s-plus comedy in which he played a breezily irresponsible guy called on to help raise a family (and which is being revisited with a Netflix sequel), Stamos is unfazed.
“I’m not afraid to lean into what people want to see me do. And I’m not afraid to throw a baby in there if I have to. Or throw in some old friend that I used to be on another TV show with, if that’s what people want to see,” he said, the latter a reference to “Full House” alum Bob Saget, a guest star on “Grandfathered.”
It’s a mechanical approach that’s more typical than not in TV, but with good result here. The well-cast series includes an appealing Josh Peck (“Drake & Josh”) as Gerald, the son in need of a dad; the always welcome Paget Brewster (“Community,” “Criminal Minds”) as Sara, Gerald’s mom and the woman who’s sure Jimmy isn’t family-man material; and Christina Milian as Vanessa, Gerald’s baby mama who sees him only as a pal and co-parent.
The pilot comedy has the pace, smarts and just enough heart to make it appealing without descending into either cuteness overkill or crassness.
“Grandfathered” is paired with Fox’s “The Grinder,” which also stars a great-looking, 50-something guy, Rob Lowe. The audience showed interest, with each series drawing 5 million viewers in last week’s debuts against blockbuster competitors “NCIS” and “The Voice.”
